Good Day Sunshine
by LauGS
Summary: Part of the Not Alone verse. It's Chris' birthday and there really isn't much he can ask for when his life is already so full of beauty. Bad summary, as usual, is bad.


**Hi, guys! :)**

**As I promised, here's the new little sequel to Not Alone, this time with the excuse of Chris' birthday.**

**Thanks to Wutif for working on this so quickly. Best beta everrrr.**

**Title from The Beatles' song :)**

**I own absolutely nothing recognizable, of course.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Darren's eyes snapped open. There was a piece of sheet music stuck to his cheek where he had fallen asleep and he was sort of surprised he hadn't dropped the guitar in the few minutes (hours?) that he had been completely dead to the world. For a moment, he wondered what the hell had woken him up, when he had been so pleasantly happy during his much needed nap.

Then he heard the clashing sound and the hushed voices.

With a groan, he stood up, pushing the chair back until it hit the wall behind him, and he rested the guitar against the desk. His little home studio was nothing but a jumbled mess of instruments and unfinished music scattered everywhere and, if he had to be honest, that was exactly the way he loved it. He stretched his arms over his head, trying to get rid of the slight twinge caused by the awkward position in which he had fallen asleep. The front of the black hoodie he was wearing rode up a little bit. Darren smiled and buried his face in it, inhaling deeply. It smelled like his husband. It smelled like home.

He walked down the hallway, the sounds getting louder with every step he took, until he finally stopped by the kitchen's doorway. He leaned against the wall, a smile already tugging at his lips and let the sight that greeted him fill him with warmth.

A few pans were scattered around the floor, the doors of the cabinet where they kept them opened wide. One of the counters was completely covered in flour and so was his five year old daughter, who stood next to the mess in her violet pajamas, her dark curls dusted with white. She was barefoot, her big green eyes staring down at the pans.

Her brother was kneeling on the floor, trying to sort through the pans, while obviously trying to deduce which one he needed.

"I don't think this is the kind we're supposed to use…" Sam stared at a sauce pan, biting his lip.

"If we can't make pancakes, how are going to make _coffee_?" Evangeline whispered in a mix of fear and wonder.

"What are you two up to?" Darren asked then, causing them to almost jump a foot in the air.

"Daddy!" Evangeline rushed towards him, extending her arms. Darren immediately scooped her up. "Ssh, we're trying to be quiet!"

"Well, baby girl, I'm afraid you're not exactly succeeding," he said with a smile as he wiped her nose clean. "Why are you up so early?"

"It's Papa's birthday," Sam explained from his place on the floor. He looked disappointed as he kept trying to choose the right pan. "We wanted to make breakfast for him…"

"There's no need to destroy the kitchen for that," Darren commented, putting Evie down again and walking to the laundry room adjacent to the kitchen to grab a broom. "Let's clean this up and I'll help you guys when we're done."

* * *

It hadn't been the noises coming from the kitchen that had woken Chris up, but the absence of the warm, familiar body next to him on the bed. He usually slept with Darren wrapped in his arms, or wrapped in Darren's arms, only having the big bed to himself when Darren was on tour, but even then sometimes his husband was replaced by one (or both) of his children. Today the bed felt too lonely and cold, even though summer was just around the corner.

He then remembered that Darren had stayed up working on a few songs the previous night. He had probably fallen asleep in his studio again, or maybe he was still up working. It wouldn't be the first time. Even after all these years, Darren's energy seemed endless. Chris admired him for that. He worked very hard, too, but since they'd adopted Evangeline and Sam he had learnt to relax and enjoy more. He mostly worked at home now, writing his books and his screenplays, though he spent a few months every year filming his movies. And having kids had taught him to value sleep. He really, really had learnt that lesson the hard way.

Chris grabbed his cellphone from the bedside table and glanced at the time. It was still very early, just past seven thirty and it seemed a crime to him to get up at that time, but he thought of Darren still downstairs in his studio, and he slid out of bed anyway. Maybe he could convince him to get some sleep before the kids got up.

Or maybe they could forgo sleep completely…

He crept down the stairs carefully, trying not to make too much noise so he wouldn't wake Evie and Sam up. He was about to turn into the hallway to walk to Darren's studio, when he heard noises coming from the kitchen. Frowning, he turned around and moved towards the sound.

He definitely wasn't expecting to be greeted by such a sigh. There was a broom and a few pans lying on the floor, the counters were dirty and Darren, Sam and Evangeline were chasing one another around the kitchen island, in the middle of a flour-throwing battle. Both Sam and Evie were giggling uncontrollably and Darren was smiling so much that he looked like a kid, too.

It always astonished Chris how much their kids looked like Darren. He knew it was coincidence, since neither of them were his biological children, but the two of them had his hair. Evangeline's was getting curlier and curlier and Sam's was just as messy as his.

"Stop it!" Evangeline finally said, a little breathless. "We have to finish making breakfast before Papa wakes up!"

Chris smiled, his heart warming even more as he realized his family was trying to surprise him for his birthday.

"Alright, alright," Darren nodded, as he put the bag of flour on the counter. "You guys distracted me too much."

"You threw flour at us first!" Sam protested, chuckling, as he shook his head to try and get the white powder out of his hair. "Do we even have enough flour left to make pancakes?"

"Not sure," Darren answered, as he checked.

Evangeline pouted. "Did we ruin Papa's surprise?"

"Oh, no, no, baby girl, we didn't ruin anything," he assured her quickly, kneeling down next to her. "Maybe we need a little change of plans, but that doesn't mean our surprise is ruined." He kissed her forehead before standing up again. "Come on, guys. I'll clean the floor while you pick the rest of the pans up."

Smiling, Chris turned around and tiptoed down the hallway towards the stairs again. The enthusiasm in his children's faces was so clear that he didn't want to see that shattered if they realized he had discovered their plans.

Chris slipped back into bed and even though Darren's side was still empty, the bed didn't feel cold anymore, because he knew his husband, his daughter and his son would soon be joining him.

* * *

It wasn't until at least an hour later when Darren, Sam and Evangeline finally had a tray ready with breakfast to take upstairs to Chris. There hadn't been enough flour left to make pancakes and the kids had insisted in trying to cook everything themselves, so Darren made it as easy for them as possible, and they simply made some French toast, freshly cut fruit and coffee. Evangeline insisted in putting a flower in the tray, too, so while Darren finished cooking the toast, her brother took her to the backyard to cut a couple of flowers that she put in a glass with water.

They made their way up to the master bedroom, Darren carrying the tray so the kids wouldn't trip while coming up the stairs. When they reached the door to their bedroom, Darren carefully passed the tray to his children and pushed the door open. Sam and Evangeline took the tray inside and stood by the foot of the bed, biting their lips in excitement and waiting for Chris to open his eyes.

He was lying on his side, pressing Darren's pillow against his chest. Darren crawled onto the bed next to him and kissed the back of his neck softly, sending a shiver down his spine and causing him to stir slightly.

"Hello there, sunshine," Darren muttered with a playful smile.

"Mm, morning," Chris smiled, too, turning around so he could face his husband. When he did, he noticed the two kids standing there, grinning and almost jumping in excitement. "Oh my, what is this?"

"Happy Birthday, Papa!" They exclaimed in unison.

"Aw, you guys! Thank you so much!" Chris sat up against the headboard and Darren took the tray from the kids so they could climb onto the bed. They sat one on each side of Chris, throwing their arms around their father. Evangeline climbed onto his lap to kiss his cheek.

"We made you French toast and coffee, Papa!" Sam announced happily, slipping under the blankets.

"It smells delicious," Chris answered as Darren settled the tray on the bed. "Did Daddy help?"

"Of course I did," Darren rolled his eyes, feigning being offended but then leaned closer to peck Chris on the lips sweetly. "Happy birthday, beautiful."

Chris put his hand on the back of Darren's neck and brought him closer for another kiss. He smiled against his lips. "Thank you."

Sam crawled to get closer to the tray and snatched a card made of red construction paper with big black letters. "I made a card for you at school yesterday! The teacher helped me spell all the long words!"

"Wow, this is amazing, Sam!" Chris said as he accepted the card. It said Happy Birthday Papa in Sam's crooked handwriting and he had drawn a cake with hearts surrounding it all over the card. Chris opened it to read what was inside and his heart melted at the drawing of the entire Criss-Colfer family. He was never going to get over the fact that he had a family. A family of his own. He was a husband and a father.

"Do you like it?" Sam asked anxiously.

Chris kissed the top of his head. "I love it. Right after we finish having breakfast, I'll go downstairs to my office and I'll pin it to my corkboard so I can look at it every day."

Sam seemed more than satisfied with that answer.

"I cut the flowers!" Evangeline exclaimed, eager to not be left out. "Aren't they pretty, Papa?"

"They're very pretty," Chris said and gave her a kiss, too. "But you're much prettier than any flower."

Evangeline giggled in delight. The four were soon sharing breakfast, laughing and just generally having a good time. They planned to go out later that day and both kids made Darren promise he would help them find the perfect presents to give to Chris once they were out and, even though Chris protested, Darren agreed immediately.

Probably because of the excitement of the morning and how early they had gotten up, Sam and Evangeline both fell asleep before Chris had even finished his cup of coffee. They were pressed against his sides, throwing their arms around his chest and his belly and snuggling close to him. Darren watched the scene with the brightest smile ever.

"They're growing up so fast," Chris commented as he ran his fingers through Sam's hair.

"Yeah," Darren nodded, picking the tray up and setting it down on the floor so they could be more comfortable. "I can't believe how fast time flies."

"I can't believe I'm thirty three," Chris chuckled.

"You still look like you did when you were twenty one," Darren reached to brush a lock of Chris' chestnut hair back.

"You do too," Chris' fingertips outlined Darren's jaw.

There was a moment of silence during which Darren just stared at him with the hint of a smirk.

"You knew we were doing this, didn't you?" He muttered.

Chris laughed lightly. "Yeah, I saw you guys downstairs when you were destroying the kitchen."

"Hey, it's mostly clean now," Darren said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Mostly?" Chris quirked an eyebrow.

"I'll finish it later," Darren shrugged and then slid into bed, cuddling against the little girl sleeping in the middle of the bed. "I just feel like taking a nap with my beautiful husband and my beautiful children first."

Chris hummed in pleasure. "I think that's a fantastic idea."

The four of them were soon all tangled together in the big bed. Chris stayed awake the longest, as Darren drifted off to sleep as well. He stayed awake because, once upon a time, he had believed getting old would be something upsetting. But the truth was that, now that it was actually happening, now that the years were rolling by, he felt nothing but sheer happiness.

If years were going to keep bringing as many blessings as they had so far, he thought as he felt Sam's breath on his neck, Evangeline's light weight against his side and Darren's hand looking for hi in his dreams, Chris just couldn't wait to keep growing older.

* * *

**I still can't believe I managed to keep it this short :P**

**Yay, I hope you liked it! Please share your thoughts with me!**

**Also, share your thoughts on the season finale if you want, but please avoid any character/ship bashing. Let's keep it peaceful!**

**Next chapter of S&H for all of you who are reading it, will be up next weekend!**

**Love,**

**L.-**


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